Why you might pay for social media soon
TikTok, Facebook, X: Your favorite Social Networks might come with a price tag soon. Paid business models seem to be the future. Is there a way around it?
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00:00 TikTok, Facebook, X.
00:01 Would you pay to use them?
00:03 Well, soon you might have to.
00:05 Paid business models seem to be the future
00:07 for social media platforms.
00:09 X and Meta already offer a paid verification service
00:12 to help creators establish their presence.
00:15 Now, Meta plans to charge users
00:17 for an ad-free version of Instagram and Facebook,
00:20 and TikTok wants to do the same.
00:22 Even Snapchat offers a paid service
00:25 that includes additional tools and customizations.
00:27 And YouTube users will be very familiar
00:30 with the annoyingly pushy offers
00:32 for the ad-free version YouTube Premium.
00:34 So clearly there's a trend.
00:36 Social media companies want to make you pay.
00:39 But how much exactly?
00:41 Let's look at the concrete numbers.
00:43 Instagram and Facebook users are charged
00:45 between 10 to 13 euros a month for an ad-free feed.
00:49 TikTok is testing a paid model
00:51 for just under five euros a month.
00:53 Snapchat Plus is within the same price range.
00:55 Meanwhile, YouTube Premium prices
00:58 rose to 13 euros a month.
01:00 And for the blue check on X,
01:01 you have to spend eight euros a month.
01:03 So, not to be bombarded with ads
01:06 while going about your social media life doesn't come cheap,
01:09 but aren't we already paying with our data?
01:12 Data harvesting.
01:13 If it's free, you're the product.
01:18 Harvesting user data
01:19 is the typical social media business model.
01:22 In exchange for their services,
01:23 companies get your personal data
01:26 and provide you with personalized ads.
01:29 But now worldwide crackdowns on this data business,
01:32 for example, by the European Union,
01:34 might force them to change their game.
01:36 If platforms aren't allowed to make money
01:38 out of your data anymore,
01:40 they come directly to you.
01:42 They will make you pay for ad-free versions
01:44 of the platforms or for verification services.
01:47 Well, as long as I'm not forced to pay,
01:49 there isn't a problem.
01:50 Or is there?
01:52 Gatekeeping users.
01:54 Users who pay get the better deal.
01:58 Paid verification like X's or Meta's blue tick
02:01 comes with an algorithm boost.
02:03 Posts of users who are paying end up on top of your feed
02:07 and get more visibility.
02:09 That is problematic because it can push certain content.
02:12 If people with money are most prominent in users' feeds,
02:16 this will create a power imbalance.
02:19 So, do we have a choice?
02:21 Well, social media companies are doing their best
02:24 to nudge us to pay for their services.
02:26 You might have noticed that your app experiences
02:29 as a free user got worse.
02:31 On YouTube, you can get up to three unskippable ads
02:34 before the actual video starts.
02:37 On Instagram, every third post or story is now an ad.
02:41 And on X, your posts barely get reactions anymore.
02:44 This is all calculated,
02:46 making our experience as uncomfortable as possible.
02:50 While always having a better life
02:51 just a few clicks and euros away.
02:54 Of course, if you don't like that,
02:55 you can always just stop using the app.
02:58 But can you really?
02:59 For many of us, apps like TikTok, Instagram, or X
03:02 are almost essential to connect with others,
03:05 get news or entertainment.
03:07 To stop using them altogether
03:09 is definitely a difficult decision for many.
03:11 I think social media companies got us hooked
03:14 and now they are making us pay.
03:16 And a lot of people are willing to.
03:18 According to estimates, around 1 million users
03:20 are paying for X premium.
03:22 Snapchat Plus is doing even better
03:24 with a reported 5 million subscribers
03:27 and YouTube said it passed 80 million premium users last year.
03:31 We are already giving them our data.
03:34 Would you still also spend money
03:35 on social media subscriptions?
03:37 Or don't you mind watching tons of ads?
03:40 of ads.